“Winter is Coming” – A simple phrase has enough strength in the words to make you shiver, if you know where they come from. That’s right! GoT had been a worldwide phenomenon. And while its final season had been a massive disappointment, (we know who’s to blame – looking at you, David Benioff & D.B. Weiss) fans are still eagerly waiting for the Game of Thrones prequels, that HBO has promised.
It only feels like yesterday, when the set photos of an untitled GoT prequel were spread all over the internet. And now, George R. R. Martin, the author of the world favorite novel series, had an interview with Entertainment Weekly. Talking about the show, GRR confirmed a lot, that as fans, we’d be very excited about.
Are you ready to unveil some of those tightly kept secrets? So, here we go!
First and foremost, The Stark family would be a part of the show. Theorists believed Starks to be in the prequels as they are direct descendants of the First Men. GRR confirmed the guesswork, saying, “The Starks will definitely be there.” He also adds, “There are things like direwolves and mammoths.” Martin also told that, “Obviously the White Walkers are here — or as they’re called in my books, The Others — and that will be an aspect of it.” Good thing there will be more Good boi-s in this series.
Speaking of how the politics of this version of Westeros would work, he says, “We talk about the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros; there were Seven Kingdoms at the time of Aegon’s Conquest. But if you go back further then there are nine kingdoms, and 12 kingdoms, and eventually you get back to where there are a hundred kingdoms — petty kingdoms — and that’s the era we’re talking about here.”
While the Starks had been confirmed, same cannot be said about the remaining great houses – Lannisters and Targaryens. Set in a period way before Aegon’s conquest, it’s highly unlikely that Westerosi will see Dragons flying over their heads. Also, the debt might not always be paid, as there won’t be any Lannisters around.
Martin says, “The Lannisters aren’t there yet, but Castlery Rock is certainly there; it’s like the Rock of Gibraltar. It’s actually occupied by the Casterlys — for whom it’s still named after in the time of Game of Thrones.” And though, there are stories of Lann the Clever, who swindled the Casterlys away, it seems recent enough, to not feature in the prequels.
HBO has slated certain actors as ‘leads’ of the show. Asked about this, Martin said the prequel — like Game of Thrones — is more accurately described as an ensemble story. “I hesitate to use the word ‘lead’,” Martin says, “We don’t have leads so much as a large ensemble cast.”
Lastly, talking about the name of the prequel, GRR states that while the show is still untitled, ‘The Long Night’ still remains the author’s main preference. “I heard a suggestion that it could be called The Longest Night, which is a variant I wouldn’t mind,” he says. “That would be pretty good.”
Coming from the author of the original source material, The Song of Ice and Fire, there’s a lot of credibility as to what we might get from the prequels. For all the book readers, who might worry for their upcoming novels, GRR emphasized that he’s currently working on only one thing: the sixth novel in the series. GRR Martin is assisted by Jane Goldman, who has a strong resume with movies like ‘Kick-Ass’, ‘X-Men: First Class’ and ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’.
So, let’s await the prequel like the good fans we are, and just hope that it’s worth the hype.
(Pictures are screenshots taken from the series)
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